Observation Tower

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:09 am

This is really off topic but I think Omaha could use a very sleek modern looking observation tower where Wall Street Tower would've been. NOT like the vortex tower!!! Make it look like the one in Auckland, new Zealand. Have it taller than First National, maybe 1,000 feet at the mast. It would bring tourists and look really cool.

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:57 am

I created this just in case they ever decide to build an observation tower. Lol

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 3:59 am

I think Omaha could use a very sleek modern looking observation tower where Wall Street Tower would've been. NOT like the vortex tower!!! Make it look like the one in Auckland, new Zealand. Have it taller than First National, maybe 1,000 feet at the mast. It would bring tourists and look really cool.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:14 am

Not much to see here in the city by the hay.

http://www.spaceneedle.com/mobile-webcam/

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 12:23 pm

Speaking of the Marina Towers....that reminds me of the 1980 Steve McQueen movie..The Hunter....

[youtube]https://youtu.be/kRZDSvsdZ8A?t=170[/youtube]

They are also known as the "corncob" buildings.....more fitting for Nebraska.

Louie · Post by **Louie** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 1:40 pm

This would be a big waste of money.

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:43 pm

Like...to store discount wigs?

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 2:50 pm

GetUrban wrote:They are also known as the "corncob" buildings.....more fitting for Nebraska.

Nobody except tour guides ever call them that. They're Marina City/Towers.

Joe_Sovereign · Post by **Joe_Sovereign** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 4:35 pm

It is a money loser as a individual building but can be of huge benefit to the city image and branding. Think of what the St. Louis Arch does for St. Louis or the Sky Needle does for Seattle. An Iconic structure will pay for itself across all the benefits it brings the city.

Louie · Post by **Louie** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:27 pm

I dunno. I mean the arch was built as a national monument and the Space Needle was built for a World's Fair and it is also surrounded by beautiful mountains and the Puget Sound. I love Omaha as much as the next guy, but the scenery would be lacking.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 9:46 pm

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:
GetUrban wrote:They are also known as the "corncob" buildings.....more fitting for Nebraska.
Nobody except tour guides ever call them that. They're Marina City/Towers.

I admit, I hadn't heard them called that since architecture school when my classmates were all designing high-rises for the 77 West Wacker site across the river.

U R my Helix · Post by **U R my Helix** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 10:00 pm

How about this .... One block wide 5 blocks long with great potential for underground parking access from the east.
Dodge to California on the edge of Dundee. No sign of it being for sale though.
I think it would be a great location and lots of workers in the area.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 11:33 pm

I am fairly certain "The Bob" is our Space Needle and Arch....

Post by **Brad** » Fri Jul 24, 2015 11:41 pm

Are you talking about the Ready Mix property?

U R my Helix · Post by **U R my Helix** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 9:24 am

Yes the paving plant, good views, good access, close to everything.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 9:44 am

For what?

Louie · Post by **Louie** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 9:55 am

Brad wrote:I am fairly certain "The Bob" is our Space Needle and Arch....

Good point.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 11:32 am

I think he meant to be in the observation tower thread.

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 11:55 am

Whoa my that is trending on here

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:12 pm

Its not really that iconic though

Post by **BRoss** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 12:19 pm

PotatoeEatsFish wrote:Its not really that iconic though

I think it's iconic - but not to the point of the others listed. While the Bob gives us a defining characteristic, we need something a little bit more to make a mark on the rest of the country like those things do for their respective cities.

Post by **Brad** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:40 pm

PotatoeEatsFish wrote:Its not really that iconic though

Probably not compared to the others... But its in a much smaller city and it's way newer than the Arch and Space Needle.

Seattle = population 3.6 Million and Space Needle built in 1962 for $4.5 Million (35.5 Million in 2015 Money)
St Louis = population 2.8 Million and the Arch built in 1963 for $13 Million (190 Million in 2015 Money)
Omaha = population 900k and the Bob built in 2008 for $22 Million (24.4 Million in 2015 Money)

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 1:53 pm

I'd say we got shafted!

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 4:42 pm

Probably a dozen things money for an observation tower could better be used for in Omaha.

Post by **Brad** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 5:13 pm

iamjacobm wrote:Probably a dozen things money for an observation tower could better be used for in Omaha.

Absolutely.... Phase one of a streetcar system.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Sat Jul 25, 2015 5:36 pm

Free gigabit

S33 · Post by **S33** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 5:56 pm

what the heck is "the bob"? Just a guess, the Pedestrian Bridge? If that is our downtown icon, we did in fact get shafted.

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:40 am

The streetcar is a good idea but lets be honest, not a lot of people would ride it.

Dundeemaha · Post by **Dundeemaha** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:20 am

PotatoeEatsFish wrote:The streetcar is a good idea but lets be honest, not a lot of people would ride it.

I don't agree.

My phrasing would be:

Lets be honest, the street car is a bad idea and not a lot of people would ride it.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 12:46 pm

S33 wrote:what the heck is "the bob"? Just a guess, the Pedestrian Bridge? If that is our downtown icon, we did in fact get shafted.

You get what you pay for. With all of the naysayers, it was hard enough getting it built with the $22 million Bob K. secured from the feds. Early conceptual models had an observation deck near the top of the Omaha pylon and the connection to Webster St. north of Clink. The max heights of the pylons were limited to approx. 250' by FAA regulations near the runway approaches to Eppley. The pylons ended up quite a bit shorter than that. (175'-200' ?)

But I agree it is not of the caliber as the St. Louis Arch or space needle. Good luck securing $ for something like that.

Omaha1000 · Post by **Omaha1000** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 3:02 pm

Why was the bridge was built north of the central river front area? It would make more sense to me if the attractions were less spread out by having the bridge entrance closer to Storz Trophy Room.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 5:13 pm

GetUrban wrote:
But I agree it is not of the caliber as the St. Louis Arch or space needle. Good luck securing $ for something like that.

I'm not sure a city the size of Omaha warrants a landmark of that magnitude, I just don't believe the pedestrian bridge should be considered anything more than that, a bridge.

I guess it's kind of cool??

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:03 pm

Omaha1000 wrote:Why was the bridge was built north of the central river front area? It would make more sense to me if the attractions were less spread out by having the bridge entrance closer to Storz Trophy Room.

At Lewis & Clark Landing/Storz Trophy, there is basically a cap over all of the lead-contaminated ground under where the old Asarco lead refinery used to be. There are very strict limits still in-place on what can be built there. It would have been very expensive to deal with the lead removal that was in the way of the deep foundations required for a bridge. Plus the views of the bridge wouldn't be as good if it were too close to the ugly I-480 bridge. The Webster St. (now Fahey St.) alignment was seen as a potential boost to north downtown and further development north of Clink, although the site for the TD Ameritrade Ballpark hadn't been chosen at the time of bridge planning/design. There was a study done back in the late 90's where they narrowed it down to the current bridge site. I'll have to see if I can find that study on-line. It might still be on one of the back-to-the river websites.

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:57 pm

Something of a landmark status might be nice in another part of town, like around MTC, Aksarben, or someplace else.

bmt · Post by **bmt** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:49 pm

Not necessarily a so called landmark, but i would love to see an iconic library downtown to take the place of the current main library. Something that is architecturally modern and technologically advanced.

Maybe something along the lines of the main branch in Salt Lake City.

Or even the Seattle Public Library.

However it would definitely have to be a scaled back version of one of these designs/concepts as the Seattle Library costed $165.9 Mil and Salt Lake City costed $84 Mil.

Edit: Thanks for the picture help RN.

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:00 pm

I just resize in MS paint.

I actually hope they keep the library as is and where it is, for the sake of CPP. They are kind of 'iconic' in and of themselves, in a way...

Omaha1000 · Post by **Omaha1000** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 11:09 am

GetUrban wrote:
Omaha1000 wrote:Why was the bridge was built north of the central river front area? It would make more sense to me if the attractions were less spread out by having the bridge entrance closer to Storz Trophy Room.
At Lewis & Clark Landing/Storz Trophy, there is basically a cap over all of the lead-contaminated ground under where the old Asarco lead refinery used to be.

Thank you! Good to know that there was a valid reason.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:27 pm

bmt wrote:Not necessarily a so called landmark, but i would love to see an iconic library downtown to take the place of the current main library. Something that is architecturally modern and technologically advanced.

Maybe something along the lines of the main branch in Salt Lake City.

Or even the Seattle Public Library.

However it would definitely have to be a scaled back version of one of these designs/concepts as the Seattle Library costed $165.9 Mil and Salt Lake City costed $84 Mil.

Edit: Thanks for the picture help RN.

A library/science center/planearium/museum bar-and-grill in a Johnny Ive designed landmark structure. Although here in Omaha Nebraska the only way something special or spectacular would get built is if Jesus himself went to a husker game with the powers that be (Oma-nati) and told them to.

bmt · Post by **bmt** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:13 pm

MTO wrote:
A library/science center/planearium/museum bar-and-grill in a Johnny Ive designed landmark structure. Although here in Omaha Nebraska the only way something special or spectacular would get built is if Jesus himself went to a husker game with the powers that be (Oma-nati) and told them to.

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 7:42 pm

MTO wrote: planearium

South park reference?